Preparation of a final 25–30 minute literary lecture to be given at the parting (fifth) residency.

Preparation of a formal 20-minute reading of one's work to be given at the parting (fifth) residency.

Submission of a creative thesis to two faculty readers.

Packet Exchanges

Students are required to complete five packet mailings per term. The due dates for these packets are set by the teacher and equally spaced—approximately one per month—throughout each term.

The packets will consist of written responses to readings (2–3 pages each) and a comprehensive amount of creative work in the genre.

The requirement of time is a minimum of 25 hours a week. This means roughly 100 hours per packet.

Punctuality between students and teachers in exchanging packets is not only essential, it is integral to the nature of the low-residency educative process itself.

Dual Genre Degree

Students will study three terms in the major genre and two terms in the minor genre. Dual-genre students are not required to produce more writing or submit more packets per term than single-genre students.

Terms 1 and 2: major genre

Terms 3 and 4: minor genre

Term 5: major genre

Page requirement for dual-genre theses: three-fifths of the thesis must be dedicated to the major genre and two-fifths must be dedicated to the minor genre. Manuscript length for prose: 125–150 pages, for poetry 60–80 pages.

Residencies

Students must also attend two 10-day residency periods a year, one in January and one in June, plus a final (fifth) residency to mark the completion of the course of study. These are high-energy and high-demand sessions and we require full participation. Students must arrive the day before and leave no earlier than after the final scheduled academic event of the residency (the final workshop on the final Sunday morning), being in residence the entire 10 days and planning travel arrangements and other commitments to ensure no break in the 10-day concentration.